Tiers of Technological Advancement
The technological accomplishments of a species can be fit into one of several categories. Each category is assigned a number, from 7 to 0. The lower the number, the more advanced the species in question. Tier 7: Pre-Industrial A Tier 7 civilization is one which has not yet developed the means of urbanization and industrialism that lead into the other stages. Such a civilization is extremely limited in a vast number of ways, but is also rather stable - a Tier 7 civilization will find it all but impossible to wipe itself out. Tier 6: Industrial Age A civilization of the 6th Tier has achieved an industrial revolution of one sort or another, and often as a result has entered a period of mass urbanization. Often in this stage, civilizations rapidly advance their understanding of the world, especially once compared to the advancements of a Tier 7 civilization. Humanity, for instance, reached this era in 1781 with the invention of steam-based technology. Tier 5: Atomic Age Tier 5 species tend to focus upon production of alternative forms of energy, as well as harnessing atomic power for utilization in superweapons. It is at Tier 5 that species will first begin to reach for the stars, placing artificial satellites into space - and on occasion, manned craft as well. As an example, humanity reached this tier toward the end of the Second World War. Tier 4: Space Age Tier 4 species begin to reach out further and further into the space immediately around the small base they call their homeworld. The distinction between this tier and the tier following is largely based upon FTL travel. A Tier 4 civilization has not yet developed such faster-than-light means, and is thus severely limited in their space-based abilities. Humanity in the modern day is a Tier 4 civilization. Tier 3: Space-Faring Species of a Tier 3 denomination have developed efficient means of faster-than-light travel, and in many cases, semi-sentient Artificial Intelligence units. Interstellar travel can still be time-consuming and dangerous by this stage, but the boundaries are no longer impossible to breach. Tier 2: Interstellar A Tier 2 species has achieved efficient, relatively swift interstellar travel and near-instantaneous communication, as well as means of energy-manipulation on an individual, man-portable scale. Such a species will often never breach this level, and as such it is often considered the zenith of sentient possibility. Tier 1: World-Builders A species of the Tier 1 designation retains the ability to manipulate the fundamental forces of the universe, create fully-sentient Artificial Intelligence, create and modify life, and even design and create entirely new worlds out of resources and in locations of their choosing. Tier 0: Transcendent The true, hypothetical zenith that any species or civilization could ever reach. Inter-galactic travel becomes a possibility, as does the ability to directly alter and modify the fabric of the universe as well as its fundamental forces. A Tier 0 civilization could often be considered to be nothing short of divinity, and in many regards that is true.